Press Forward Minnesota 2025 Grant Round: Civic Health and Community Collaborations

About the Press Forward Minnesota 2025 Grant Round

Press Forward Minnesota will  award $1 million in grants to partnerships between local newsrooms and community-based organizations. These collaborations will strengthen civic health, democratic participation, and community cohesion while ensuring Minnesotans stay  well-informed, inspired and empowered to engage on issues they care about.

Why the Focus on Civic Health & Community Collaborations?

In early 2025, Press Forward Minnesota partnered with Corona Insights to conduct a statewide survey examining what matters most to residents in state and local news. The study collected over 2,000 responses and provides quantitative data that captures Minnesotans’ current relationship with local journalism.

This statewide survey provided top-level rates of news consumption, trust, and other key indicators. It also establishes a benchmark for understanding the current needs of Minnesotans and creates an opportunity to track efforts to increase community access to local news and information. Press Forward Minnesota hopes to conduct future surveys to track how Minnesotan’s relationship with local news changes over time.

The study revealed a key finding: Minnesotans lacked confidence in taking local civic action. When researchers asked residents about their confidence in understanding information and taking civic action in local politics and government,  fewer than one quarter (22%) of Minnesotans said they felt very confident in knowing how to vote for candidates that would deliver their desired outcomes. While 45% said they felt somewhat confident, 32% felt not very or not at all confident.

The survey also found that Minnesotans who paid for or financially supported state or local news in the last year showed much higher confidence in knowing/taking civic actions. For example, 30% of residents who financially supported state or local news in the past year felt very confident knowing where local politicians stand on key issues compared to just 13% of those who did not.

Given the link between civic action and community well-being, we must address this discrepancy. Furthermore, all Minnesotans deserve to have access to the information they need to take civic action regardless of whether they pay for news or not.

Guiding Framework: 

Press Forward Minnesota uses the Civic Information Index  tool to define civic health and information. The Civic Information Index examines the role that news and information play in communities—and their impact on civic health. This data-driven tool maps drivers of engaged, informed, equitable, and healthy communities nationwide. The Civic Information Index focuses efforts to revitalize local news on the core purpose of journalism: “to provide citizens with the information they need to be free and self-governing.” (Kovach & Rosenstiel, The Elements of Journalism.)

We encourage applicants to reference or plan to use the Civic Information Index (or similar localized data) to identify information gaps, target underserved communities, tailor interventions, and measure impacts over time. 

Key Goals:  

  • Promote civic participation, education, and community building. 
  • Address declining faith in democracy and community cohesion.  
  • Equip communities with accessible, actionable information to support all forms of civic engagement.
  • Foster partnerships that reflect Minnesota’s diverse communities and their needs.

Grant Details and Eligibility:  

  • Eligible Applicants: News organizations (nonprofit or for-profit) partnering with community-based organizations. Applicants must be Minnesota-based local newsrooms with reporters in Minnesota. They must plan to partner with one or more Minnesota-based community organizations. While this grant seeks to fund partnerships between local newsrooms and community-based organizations, the local newsroom must be the applicant. We are unable to accept applications solely from community-based organizations.
  • Community Partner Requirements: organizations must be independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3)s aligned with the goals of promoting civic health and community collaboration. 
  • Budget Requirements: No organization budget cap applies. We encourage newsrooms of all sizes to apply.
  • Award Details: Grant awards will range from $50,000 to $300,000. These will be two-year grants.  

Deliverables:  

  • Initiatives that promote civic participation and community building. 
  • Projects that provide paywall-free content to ensure accessibility. 
  • Efforts to increase public awareness of local news as a trusted source of civic information. 
  • Programs that foster stronger connections between Minnesotans and local news organizations.   

Desired Impact:  

  • Increased confidence among Minnesotans in taking local civic action.  
  • Enhanced accessibility to civic and community information, particularly for underserved populations.  
  • Strengthened partnerships between newsrooms and community organizations to create enduring collaborations.  
  • Minnesota residents feel connected to and build relationships with local news.  
  • Increase in civic health indicators for counties served by newsroom’s civic health & community collaboration. Indicators include:
    • News and information 
    • Civic participation ecosystem 
    • Equity and justice 
    • Health and opportunity 

Application Materials and How to Apply

Application Materials and Evaluation

  • While this grant seeks to fund partnerships between local newsrooms and community-based organizations, the local newsroom must be the applicant. We are unable to accept applications solely from community-based organizations.
  • To apply for the grant visit the Minnesota Council on Foundations grant portal and select the “Press Forward MN Civic Health & Community Collaborations” application. You will need to register and create a profile if this is your first time using our grant portal.
  • To preview the application, click here.
  • Press Forward Minnesota has developed an evaluation rubric for applications. View the rubric to see how your application will be scored.

Key Dates  

  • September 10 – Applications open
  • October 9 – Applications closed
  • December – Application decisions announced and awarded

Grant Writing Resources:

The Lenfest Institute’s News Philanthropy Network has a free, comprehensive, virtual, course titled,  “Introduction to Grant Writing Course for News Organizations“. This is an asynchronous program that will walk you through every stage of the grant writing process. The Lenfest Institute also offers a free accompanying grant writing workbook. 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is civic health?

The National Conference on Citizenship defines civic health as “the degree to which citizens participate in their communities, from local and state governance to interactions with friends or family; civic health relates to the overall well-being of neighborhoods, communities, states and the nation”.

The Civic Information Index is based on a conceptual framework that organizes the civic health ecosystem into four pillars: News and Information, Civic Participation Ecosystem, Equity and Justice, and Health and Opportunity. The Civic Information Index also provides definitions for civic information, civic media, community building and more.

What is the link between civic health and local news?

As the Civic Information Index puts it:

“Today, news ventures of all kinds are a vital part of increasingly diverse local civic health ecosystems. As communities adapt to rapid societal, political, technological and environmental change, local news organizations connect people with critical information, verify and contextualize the news, and hold the powerful accountable. But they don’t do so in isolation. Local advocacy and power-building movements, community organizations, grassroots initiatives and others work alongside journalists and civic media with the shared goal of strengthening discourse, transparency, engagement, accountability — and ultimately, equitable outcomes for all”.

What do you mean by partnerships and collaborations?

We are looking to fund partnerships and collaborations between newsrooms and community based organizations. This arrangement may look different for each applicant and it is up to the applicant to clearly define how each party will be working together to promote civic health. This could range from a newsroom who has an agreement with a nonprofit to produce content, a collective between newsrooms and community organizations, a contract, or more.  In your application you must identify the roles and activities each party will be responsible for, the shared agreement between your organizations, compensation,  and how decision making is conducted.  The strongest proposals will demonstrate authentic, mutually beneficial partnership between newsrooms and community based organizations to create enduring collaborations. 

Who will the grant dollars be awarded to?

A local newsroom must serve as the main applicant. We award grant dollars to the applying newsroom. It is up to the newsroom and the community-based organization to determine how the funds will be split.

What do you mean by civic engagement? Is this just about voting?

We encourage supporting all forms of civic engagement.

What do you mean by underserved populations?

Press Forward Minnesota wants to ensure that local news meets the needs of communities of color, linguistically diverse communities, low-wealth rural communities, and others not adequately served, reached, or represented.

Can for-profit organizations apply?

Yes. For profit newsrooms are eligible to apply. Partnering community-based organizations must be 501c3, nonprofit, organizations.

Can I preview the application?

Yes. You can view the application here.

How will my application be evaluated and scored?

Press Forward Minnesota has developed an rubric to evaluate all proposals. You can view the evaluation rubric here.

Press Forward Minnesota has recruited a diverse and well-informed grantmaking committee to read and review proposals for this grant round. Reviewers will provide subject matter expertise and guidance to Press Forward Minnesota staff on which applicants are best positioned to have the desired community impact. Reviewers are sourced from the journalism/local news field, community, and from philanthropy. We ask that applicants do not reach out to grantmaking committee members to make the case for their application; grantmaking committee members have been instructed to not take part in these types of conversations.

My newsroom is not based in Minnesota but we have reporters in Minnesota. Am I eligible?

This grant is Minnesota-based local newsrooms with reporters in Minnesota. We reccomend following the national Press Forward network for funding opportunities open to a broader pool of applicants.

Can I apply if I have received previous Press Forward funding?

Yes, so long as you meet all of the other eligibility criteria for the Civic Health and Community Collaborations grant.

Who can I contact for more information?

For questions about using our grant portal, submitting your grant, and other technical questions, contact grants@mcf.org
For questions about eligibility or the scope of this grant focus, contact pressforwardmn@mcf.org